Monday, January 19, 2009

God Save The King (or his Dream)

This year I am going to try to celebrate the lives of humans who have embodied some of the religious principles of the AUC:

3. Free will is a gift from God. Religion should assist in the effort to find a path that exercises that gift in a responsible, constructive and ethical manner.

4. Conscious of the complexity of creation, of the limits of human understanding and of humanity's capacity for evil in the name of religion, we hold that humility, religious tolerance and freedom of conscience should be a central part of any religious experience.

7. Conscious of the spiritual and material needs of our fellow men and women, the evil they may be subjected to and the tragedies they may endure, works of mercy and compassion should be a part of any religious experience.

To that end, today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King is known for his many words of wisdom, most famously his "I have a dream" speech. I'd like to post another quote of his, which I believe is tremendously relevant to humanity today:

Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gracious and Wise Spirit, thank you for moving the hearts and minds of Great People. Thank you for giving us the hands, hearts and heads to do your work in our world. May we heed the teachings of the Great Ones, and do our part to bring progress, peace and prosperity to humanity and all Creation. Amen.